While nearly three-quarters of the population earns less than $1 a day, the new foreign minister was cleared of involvement in the theft of nearly $500, 000 of public money.

Almost every day, evidence surfaces to suggest Zambia's unpopular governing party rigged last month's presidential election in favor of a candidate whose sometimes bumbling syntax has earned him the nickname "the vegetable."

Yet all is quiet. If Zambia seemed on the verge of violent upheaval in the days immediately after a Dec. 27 election that opposition politicians, international monitors and diplomats described as deeply flawed, everything has returned to normal in this unperturbable country.

The protests in which demonstrators confronted police and soldiers with rocks, sticks and epithets have subsided. A few women marched last week in Lusaka, the capital, to denounce the election results, baring their breasts in a traditional African gesture conveying a sense of shame.

But shouting has been replaced by a shrug of the shoulders, a knowing roll of the eyes and resigned humor as this country of 11 million has gone back to business as if nothing happened.

"It's obvious to everyone that the elections were rigged," said Benwil Mwale, a farmer. "Any other nation would have erupted in violence, but Zambians don't like to kick up dust. It's just not in our nature."

On a continent known for war and civil strife, Zambia is a stark exception. It has not known war in modern times, and unlike most of the eight countries that border it, the former British colony won independence without firing a shot.

Despite having more than 70 tribes, Zambia has not experienced the factional battles that partly fueled civil wars in two neighboring countries, Angola and Congo. Another neighbor, Zimbabwe, is in the midst of its own political upheaval.

To some here, Zambia's attitude of acceptance is more of a liability than an asset. Less than 15 percent of the workforce holds a full-time job and more than 80 percent of the population lives in desperate poverty. The governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy is widely regarded as corrupt, and last year,

former President Frederick Chiluba spent more to build new chalets for a summit of southern African leaders than the government spent on health care.

Ten opposition parties fielded candidates against Chiluba's handpicked successor, Levy Mwanawasa, an attorney known for making speeches that are occasionally incoherent. During the campaign, he once referred to Chiluba as "my sister."

Despite pre-election polls that showed Mwanawasa finishing second to Anderson Mazoka, a business executive, official election results proclaimed Mwanawasa the winner by a scant margin. He was inaugurated Jan. 2.

International observers have cited numerous abuses in the election, including voter intimidation by members of Chiluba's staff and at least one election official opening a ballot box alone in his office.

The head of the European Union's observer mission said in an interview last week that election officials had so far failed to explain wide disparities in the number of votes recorded for presidential and parliamentary candidates. In one district, for instance, officials counted 13,000 votes for president but only 4,000 for parliamentary seats.

Election officials declared Mwanawasa the winner even though ballots from two of the country's 150 precincts had not been counted, in violation of Zambia's constitution, which requires that all ballots be counted before a winner is named.

"Just the rush to declare a winner shows that you have a problem," said Michael Meadowcroft, head of the EU delegation.

Election officials have denied any wrongdoing. Mwanawasa and other officials of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy said the opposition parties have only themselves to blame for the defeat: If the opposition vote had been consolidated rather than split among 10 candidates, one could have unseated the governing party.